Chartis to Layoff 2% of Workforce

Global property/casualty insurer Chartis Inc. says it is in the process of laying off about two percent of its workforce as part of a year-end review.

“As part of Chartis’ year-end review, we have conducted a resizing of our staffing levels across the organization to reflect our business objectives,” media spokesperson Marie Ali said in an emailed statement. She said the reductions amount to less than two percent of Chartis’ employees.

“We continue to hire across the board where we see the best potential for growth,” the statement added.

Chartis is the flagship property/casualty insurance operation of global financial services firm American International Group (AIG), which last week reported a $2.4 billion net loss for the third quarter, driven largely by charges related to restructuring and losses from sales of assets. However, Chartis reported third quarter 2010 operating income of $1.1 billion compared to $719 million in the third quarter of 2009. Results were driven by an improvement in underwriting income and the consolidation of Fuji Fire & Marine Insurance Co., the Japanese insurer in which AIG bought a controlling stake.